Last week I went to a Verizon Kiosk located in a BJ's Wholesale Club. This is a Verizon Corporate owned kiosk. I asked the salesman if he had any information on any WP8 devices and he promptly laughed in my face. Literally, he laughed out loud. Then after a brief silence, he realized I was serious, and he told me that he thought I was joking. He then told me that he didn't have any information.
Today, I went to the wireless kiosk located in a Costco Warehouse. This is a kiosk that is owned by a company called Wireless Advocates, which I was told operates all of the wireless kiosks at Costco. I asked the salesman if he had any information on WP8 phones. He said "Why would you want a Widows Phone? They are so confusing, you won't be able to use it and you will not be happy. I told him I had W8 on my desktop and I loved it and it certainly was not confusing. He then said " Well, you know they don't have any good phones, I know, I have read all of the reviews". I said, I have read all of the reviews too, and they are very good. Exactly which reviews have you read?
Of course, he had no response, so he then said I should come back later this month and maybe they will get something in.
This kiosk was busy when I was there, and the customers I saw were asking this man which phone he thought they should get, and they listened to this *****. Probably 1/2 the phones sold there are the result of the salesman recommendations. If Microsoft does not address this situation, I'm afraid WP8 will suffer.

I had a similar situation on T-mobile when I was looking at the 710. The rep said " Why would I want Windows on my Phone". I told him that it wasn't not the same, but to be fair there was a huge poster in the store with the Lumia on it and it said : Lumia 710, the phone that looks most like the PC at your home".

I had a similar situation on T-mobile when I was looking at the 710. The rep said " Why would I want Windows on my Phone". I told him that it wasn't not the same, but to be fair there was a huge poster in the store with the Lumia on it and it said : Lumia 710, the phone that looks most like the PC at your home".

Which I though it was hilarious.

I wonder if Microsoft is even aware of this problem. You would think that they would be, but, if they are aware of it, you would have thought that they would have addressed it by now. It's only a week from launch.

I wonder if Microsoft is even aware of this problem. You would think that they would be, but, if they are aware of it, you would have thought that they would have addressed it by now. It's only a week from launch.

Nokia has their own vendors in my carrier. Their job is to sell Lumias and nothing more, like a kiosk inside the store. They will always swoon you with the Nokia apps and office and is basically the only reason people still buy Windows Phone in here. I haven't seen a new 7.5 device that's not a lumia in months.

So very true with Verizon too. I've been literally laughed at on more than one occasion by their corporate store staff. What a joke. It should be interesting to see how they handle the 8X and 822 now that they've been "trained".

Now I just visit the store to get my hands on a device and then buy them online. Usually cheaper that way too.

I have a very negative view of people that work in kiosks in the middle of stores. By default the rep is at a disadvantage because he's a non-store employee working within the store selling a service and devices for a company he might not directly work for. So between casual conversation over which is the better phone he's offering, he has to answer questions about where the tub of mayo that comes with the free jar of pickles is. Where are the bathrooms? Over time a person working a job like that has to be a little disillusioned by it all.

I worked in wireless for a number of years and despite what an industry pundit would say about another device that functions just as good or better, if it doesn't fit in the company's sales plans for the quarter it doesn't matter. People want iPhones according to the internet. People want Androids according to the ranmdom message boards.

The earlier comment about "Why would I want Windows on my phone???". Yeah, that's a problem. Microsoft has a brand with Windows that is for better and for worse associated with a great deal of good and bad. While alternative operating systems aren't necessarily the latest craze, you have more people trying them because of Apple and Google's recent success over the last 10 years. Android might be someone's first forray into Linux of any kind and Apple might be the first non-windows device someone uses, and they are fairly mature devices. Windows Phone is new still. Give it a couple of spins before they work out the kinks. Android had the same problem as did Apple. We all laughed when you couldn't send MMS on an iPhone. Quite a few Nexus phones lack a 4G toggle still without the use of a custom rom.

Just because a store rep seems like he isn't informed doesn't mean that he isn't informed. Of course he's informed. At that level, you aren't paid to think. You are paid to sell, and sell what the company wants you to sell. I'm sure there will be a blitz for the Lumia 920 for a brief period of time. After that if the phone continues to sell well I'm sure there will be more chances for stores to get in on the action.

The sales reps rely on phones that sell well to get people signed up on two year contracts, which in turn leads to an accessory sale or two which after 90 days or so leads to them getting commission on the sale. Sales isn't a sure thing, so that guy at the table or behind the counter is going to use what he thinks is the safer bet to reel in a customer. Microsoft has a lot of work ahead of them if they plan on getting the Lumia sold to the masses. I think based on what I've read and seen the Lumia 920 holds its own. $99 is a steal and with the free charger AT&T - rather Microsoft and Nokia - are being quite agressive. The Lumia 920 has to sell well and saturate the market. The more of the Lumia 920's in the streets being used by people who are happy with them result in more WP8 sales.

I had one do the "laugh in your face and insult you" thing the other day, to which I replied "oh, I'm sorry, I thought the purpose of this retail establishment was to sell me the product that I want to buy, at a fair price, so that you can continue to receive your barely-adequate hourly paycheck in exchange for warming that chair. I guess Amazon will treat me better. Bye."

Seriously, the reason why so many retail businesses are going under is because they're just rude and hard to do business with. Why would I pay more to buy at a retail establishment that mocks me and fights me when I try to get the product I want?!? I'll just go online.

And that's what everyone else is doing as well.

(I am lucky in that my local carrier store for T-Mobile is knowledgeable and friendly... seems fairly rare for carrier stores.)

I went to the Verizon kiosk at BJ's about a month ago. Just chit-chatting with the sales clerk. I told her I was on contract until November with AT&T but I would switch to Verizon depending on which Windows Phone they get. She immediately said: "Why would you want a Windows Phone?"

At my local Costco, they sell for the big 4 carriers in the US, and among those phones is the Lumia 900 (maybe they'll get the 920).

I agree with BRMiller above. This is part of the decline in customer service and sales etiquette. This whole condescending, laugh at the customer BS does nothing for the retailers in the long term. Customers or potential customers remember bad experiences. That Verizon clerk that laughed at the OP, will he be laughing when people start asking for the 822s/8Xs that he probably got a shipment of? Will all of these clowns keep laughing as WP increases in market share? I highly doubt it.

Maybe its the fact that I flat out ignore sales folks until I'm ready to checkout is why I personally feel this issue is overblown (I just think they are annoying in general).

The only moment like this I had was when I bought my Focus. The guy at AT&T asked if I was sure I wanted a WP and not an iPhone 4 (only because I was upgrading from a 3GS). I told him I like to try out new things and yes I wanted the Focus. He understood and went about getting me on my way.

I told my dad that a windows phone would be great for him for email and office and simplicity. His Verizon guy (for his company) swore to him I was wrong and blackberry was best for businessmen. needless to say, my dad hates the thing and promises me he'll listen to me next time I make a suggestion lol

When I bought my Focus two years ago, I was the only one at the store before it opened as I wanted to get in and out before class that day. I pretty much sold the phone to the AT&T rep. We had a good conversation and he hadn't heard anyone really wanting one so he was happy to talk with me about it.

When my wife upgraded to a GSII Skyrocket at Best Buy in April I again talked to the sales rep and he was absolutely stoked about the Lumia 900. He was hoping that it'd become his 'company' phone as soon as it came out. I wanted a 900 too...until I found out it wasn't going to get upgraded to WP8. I'm glad I held on to my upgrade till now ;).

I've had a few run-ins with the arrogant folks in those stores though. Thankfully my wife (and for the most part her parents) listen to my advice over the store clerks. My mother-in-law recently got a GSIII, which she enjoys, but she only got it for the big screen. It is waaaay too much phone for her. She got it from Verizon and I told her it may be a little more than she could handle (she nor my father-in-law no anything about technology at all). I recommended that she get an iPhone (because they already had an iPad) or wait for the Windows phones.

Pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church in Mason, MI
God's work, our hands.
Preaching the Gospel.
Holding a Windows Phone.

Really, I don't think the problem can be truly solved unless the whole model of retail employment changes. Retail employees aren't there to provide unbiased opinions, they are there for a) the money, and to a far lesser degree b) their own interest in probably a specific OS or phone.

Even if Windows Phone takes off and becomes a rep recommendation, the next budding OS will be ridiculed. Google gets less sales by directly selling the Nexus devices unlocked, but at least it means you get to skirt all these clowns, and Microsoft is smart in doing the same to preserves its Surface brand.

It's actually not like this at most stores. But the first time I got my first samsung focus, not the S, the very first one. He pretty much was like why do you want this? But I was like just give me the phone jeez. If it wasn't for how close and convenient the store was to my house I would have went elsewhere. Obviously they have new salespeople there from 2 years ago, but sometimes I feel the sales people are pretty rude at At&t. Not always though just recently this guy was really nice and helpful, really nice to talk to and friendly.